Bonne Terre’s Space Museum Receives Space Shuttle Engine Component

A southeast Missouri museum received $16 million worth of parts from the decommissioned Space Shuttle program, and has a near complete space shuttle engine.

The museum received liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen high pressure turbo pumps, a combustion chamber and the injector head assembly. Unfortunately, they will not receive the nozzle because NASA still uses them.

Space Museum President Earl Mullins says the combustion chamber never flew on a Shuttle mission.

“The turbo pumps on the other hand could possibly have been flown because that was the beauty of these particular components is that they were interchangeable and could be changed out from shuttle to shuttle," Mullins says. "So we’re hoping once we track down the identifying numbers we’ve gotten some flown components.”

The components are still tucked away in boxes, and the museum will host an “unpacking” ceremony on Sept. 15.